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best customers are, or are ripe to be-
come, backcountry skiers.
Secondly – and I’ll admit this isn’t
documented but I’ve seen it anec-
dotally – interest in backcountry
skiing and riding grows when
snow is sparse. It’s only slightly
counterintuitive as to why. In a
low snow year a lack of base is more ev-
ident at a ski area where a limited base
is hammered into bony, dangerous ice.
Meanwhile, even though coverage may
be thin, the expanded terrain options in
the backcountry deliver more satisfac-
tory results. If they’re willing to hike,
experienced backcountry skiers know
they will find snow, thereby converting
ever-increasing numbers of resort ski-
ers into turn-earning BC skiers. Seth
Lightcap, marketing manager
for Jones Snowboards put it
succinctly. “Powder lasts
longer in the back-
country,” he says.
Secondarily, as other
prices rise, so does the cost
of running a ski resort, and with it the
price of a lift ticket. If a drought doesn’t
drive more skiers into the backcountry,
Vail’s recent announcement that a daily
lift ticket will be $160 surely will. As prices
rise, the exodus grows and with it, interest
in gear that gives access to the goods.
So while I may have been wrong 30
years ago about the percentage of ski-
ers who would be willing to earn their
turns, in today’s economy it appears that
even if we’re nearing the limit, all the
evidence suggests interest in the back-
country will continue to grow. So who
knows what the real limit is?
In other words, if you don’t include
some of what’s coming for next season
in your inventory of snow gear, you’re
missing what may be your entire margin
of profitability.
What follows is an admittedly in-
complete listing of new product for next
year, but this is a great place to start.
Bindings
As interest in tech bindings has
grown, so has demand for bindings that
are not only lightweight for uphill skin-
ning but reliable for downhill perfor-
mance. To address that,
Dynafit
devel-
oped a tech toe that rotates, delivering
more elasticity to their notoriously tight
binding. Next year that technology mi-
grates down from its Beast 14 to its
popular Radical binding,
called the Radical 2.0.
Yes, they said that last year too, but this
time they mean it.
Last year
G3
took the lessons learned
with Onyx, its first foray in the world of
2-pin tech bindings, and unveiled Ion,
a sharp looking, smart operating tech
binding that made the heads of Dynafit
advocates spin when they realized how
easy it was to step into. Prior to Ion it was
assumed one needed to know
how to fiddle to
click into a tech binding, but Ion says “no
more” to that nonsense. This year G3 trims
the luxury fat to deliver the Ion LT ($430),
sans brakes, that tips the scales at a mere
16 ounces (456 g) per foot.
Marker
’s Kingpin marks the entry of a
mainstream alpine binding
maker to the tech realm
where weight and efficiency
matter as much or more than
safety. Yet the Kingpin comes to
market with TUV certification.
This doesn’t mean skiing in
the backcountry with train-
ing heels is now safe but will
nonetheless calm the fears of
skeptical alpine converts.
Kingpin does modify the
classic tech formula,
with a six-pack of
springs for higher
retention forces at the
toe pins, and a heel
unit that clamps
a boot tight with
familiar downward
pressure.
There are rumors
Salomon
has a tech
binding in the works
too, but when it will
be revealed remains a secret. One thing
is certain: Greg Hill was not added to
Salmon’s athlete roster to be con-
vinced that plate bindings tour better
in the backcountry.
22 Design’s
Outlaw ($400) is the first
NTN design licensed by Rottefella to
hold a tele boot between the toe and sec-
ond heel. Outlaw builds on the proven
Axl foundation with a free-pivot touring
mode, adjustable, underfoot cable power
position and a true step-in connection to
the second heel of a NTN boot.
The M Equipment
out of France
won’t be at OR or SIA, but talk of Meidjo
certainly will be. It’s the first commercial
telemark binding to combine NTN with
Dynafit technology. The result is a binding
that uses a 2-pin tech toe with
a spring-loaded plate that
hooks onto the second
heel of a NTN boot. Com-
patible boots must have
tech inserts and, of course,
the patented NTN sole with
a second heel. Like any bind-
ing using the tech toe, Meidjo
tours like a dream, and like other NTN
bindings, delivers powerful telemark
turns without sacrificing soul. And you
thought tele was dead.
Boots
If there’s one area of backcountry
equipment that can considered
safe as far as maintain-
ing inventory, it’s with
boots. Of course, the
usual caveats apply in
terms of having a mix of
boot shapes to fit a mix of
foot shapes and sizes, but
from a functional perspec-
tive at least one of the fol-
lowing should be on your
short list of new offerings
for next season.
Atomic
goes full bore in
addressing the requirements of
weight-conscious skiers with
the Backland Carbon
Light boot.
G3 Ion
Atomic Backland Carbon Light
Marker Kingpin
Inside
Outdoor
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Winter
2015
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